The parental leave policy is mandatory so is included in every farm employee contract.
It’s a common misconception farm contracts are renewed each year when in fact they are permanent contracts and all mandatory clauses such as parental leave apply.
So, as long as a farm employee, female or male, has worked for the sufficient amount of time, they are entitled to parental leave. It’s important to remember parental leave can be flexible and the law is designed to protect both employee and the employer.
For example, if the employee has to stop working early in the pregnancy the parental leave starts from that time.
Although it can be a challenge for an employer to fill the role temporarily there are a lot of hidden benefits of staff returning to work after parental leave, she says.
“Employees who return to work tend to be very loyal employees. When they do come back you don’t have to train them and people are usually pretty productive, especially if they have children to get home to.”
The employee can also choose to be included during their parental leave so they can keep up with what is happening in the business.
It was great to have the example of what Sarah had achieved.
“It’s fabulous to see. Hopefully people see it as a positive thing and that it can be done.”
For more information on parental leave visit www.peoplesmart.co.nz
